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Hop On Hop Off Tours Porto

Updated: February 24, 2023

This post covers each of the best hop-on-hop-off bus tours in Porto, including information about locations you can visit and opportunities to save money on these services.


OVERVIEW

There are currently three different tour companies offering hop on hop off bus tours in Porto, and each offers a somewhat similar service.

The main differences to note are the number of languages provided through their audio guides and ticket prices for each service, which can vary by a few euros depending on which one you choose.

Hop On Hop Off Porto Route Map

The advantage of these tours is that you can jump off at any of the included stops and take some time to explore the city at your own leisure before getting back on the bus to continue your journey.

These companies also use a double-decker bus with an open top, allowing visitors to enjoy excellent views of the city while on board.

You can expect hop-on hop-off tours to take between 1 ½ - 2 hours to complete if you don’t get off the bus.

This means you should have time to hop off at 4-5 different sites on an average day to spend some time looking around.

Two of the bus tour companies in Porto offer either a 1-day or 2-day ticket, and the other only provides 2-day tickets.

You’ll always save more money per day by picking the longer ticket with an average savings of about €5-€8 ($5.50-$8.50).

Porto Portugal

Needless to say, if you choose a 2-day ticket, you’ll have more time to hop off at even more stops and explore the city at your own pace!

There are several discounts for Porto hop-on hop-off tours, and some of them actually offer additional savings at popular attractions and/or restaurants throughout the city.

For more information about these deals, please read our discounts section.


YELLOW BUS TOURS

This hop on hop off bus tour company certainly gives its competitors a run for their money, as they offer essentially the same service but for a slightly lower price.

Yellow Bus Tours also has several combo packages and offers quite a few deals with each ticket.

This allows you to save even more money on a variety of activities which we will cover in our discount section.

In addition to these offerings, all ticket holders will also have free access to Espaço Porto Cruz and Poças Junior Port Wine Cellars.

Their base ticket option is actually a 2-day service which includes 2 different tour routes and a total of 27 unique stops in Porto.

The audio guide included with this tour is available in the following 12 languages:

English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Mandarin, and Japanese.

In addition to their 2 routes, Yellow Bus Tours also offers a 3-in-1 service which includes both their hop on hop off tours and a Porto tram city tour.


Notable Stops

  • Sé Cathedral
  • Praça da Batalha
  • El Corte Inglés
  • Carmo Church
  • Rosa Mota Pavillion
  • Parque da Cidade
  • Castelo do Queijo
  • Matosinhos Beaches
  • Clérigos Tower
  • Ribeira / Palácio da Bolsa
  • And other monuments

Ticket Prices (each lasts for 2 days)

Although these tickets are already cheaper than some of their competitors, you can get them for even less by using the Porto Card.

Check our discount section for more details on this service.

If you decide not to take the tour for any reason, you can return your tickets up to 24 hours before they become valid for a full refund.


Tour Routes

Each of the routes provided by Yellow Bus Tours provides stops every 30 minutes from about 9 am - 17:30 (5:30 pm).

During the summer, you can expect your ticket to last for approximately half an hour longer than usual!

The Porto Castles line provides the most stops (20) and includes some locations that you can’t visit on their other line, including the Parque da Cidade, Castelo do Queijo, Anémona, Rosa Mota Pavillion, and more.

Although it’s a bit shorter, the Historical Porto line covers most of the popular landmarks in the city, including a few locations exclusive to this route such as El Corte Inglés, Jardim do Morro, Ribiera, and 13 other sites.


BLUE BUS TOURS 

Not to be outdone by their competitors, this hop-on hop-off bus tour is actually run by the popular international tour company Gray Line.

They set themselves apart from other services not only by color but also with additional activities.

Blue Bus Tours currently offers one route with 25 different stops at several popular locations and their audio guide is available in the following 19 languages:

Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Greek, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Ukrainian, Polish, Arabic, Basque, Catalan, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese.

In addition to providing an audio guide in more languages than any of their competitors, this company also offers combo tickets with river cruises and tickets to visit the Port Wine Cellars.

We’ll cover these deals in greater detail in our discount section.

Tickets are available for either 24 or 48 hours, and you’ll save more money per day by purchasing a longer ticket.


Notable Stops

  • Praça da Batalha
  • Carmo Church
  • Palacio de Cristal
  • Casa da Música
  • Castelo do Queijo
  • Guerra Junqueiro
  • Casa de Serralves
  • Ribeira / Palácio da Bolsa
  • Anémona
  • And other monuments

Ticket Prices

  • 24-Hour Ticket: €20 ($20.50) Adults | €10 ($10.25) Children
  • 48-Hour Ticket: €22 ($22.50) Adults | €11 ($11.25) Children
    • Price per day: €11 ($11.25) Adults | €5.50 ($5.65) Children

Purchase Blue Bus Tours Hop on Hop off Tickets.

If you’re looking to save some money on admission, it’s worth noting that Blue Bus Tours tickets are 20% off with the Porto Card.

You can learn more about this opportunity in our discount section.

Should you decide you’re no longer interested in the tour, you can return it up to 24 hours before it becomes activated for a full refund.


Tour Route

The route provided by Blue Bus Tours provides stops every 30 minutes.

It runs from 9 am - 18:30 (6:30 pm) during the summer and from 9:30 am - 17:30 (5:30 pm) in the winter.

In addition to stops at popular locations included on competitor routes, you can also expect them to provide stops at or around sites like Porto de Leixoes, Marisqueiras, Estadio do Dragao, Campo Alegre, Teatro Rivoli, Palácio do Freixo and more.


CITY SIGHTSEEING TOURS

This is one of the most well-known hop-on-hop-off bus tour services in the world, so it shouldn’t be too much of a shock to find out that they also offer a tour in Porto!

In total, City Sightseeing Portugal provides 25 stops spread across 2 different routes, and their audio guide is available in the following 8 languages: 

English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, French, Dutch, and Japanese.

Tickets are available for either 24 or 48 hours at a time, and you’ll pay less per day by getting a longer ticket.

City Sightseeing buses are typically air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter, and they often provide free wifi.

Admission also includes a free visit to either the Quinta da Boeira, Quevedo, or Porto Cruz wine cellars.

CitySightseeing Portugal

Notable Stops

  • Sé Cathedral
  • Praça da Batalha
  • Palacio de Cristal
  • Torre dos Clérigos
  • El Corte Inglés
  • Castelo do Queijo
  • Casa da Música
  • Casa de Serralves
  • Ribeira / Palácio da Bolsa
  • And other monuments

Ticket Prices

  • 24-Hour Ticket: €18 ($21.48) Adults | €9 ($10.74) Children
  • 48-Hour Ticket: €20 ($23.86) Adults | €10 ($11.93) Children
    • Price per day: €10 ($10.75) Adults | €5 ($5.36) Children
    • Not currently available as of August 2022.

You can save up to 25% off these ticket prices by using a Porto Card.

Please read our post covering Porto Tourist Attraction Discount Passes for more information.

If for whatever reason you decide not to take the hop on hop off bus tour after purchasing tickets, you can return them up to 24 hours before they become valid for a full refund.


Tour Routes

There is both a red line and a blue line in Porto, and while some stops are the same, there are some significant differences to note. Both lines run from 9:15 am - 17:15 (5:15 pm) and make stops every 30 minutes.

Hop On Hop Off Porto Route Map

The Blue Line has a total of 14 stops including locations such as Largo Dom Luís I, El Corte Inglés, Quinta da Boeira, Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, Câmara de Gaia, and more.

The Red Line makes 15 stops, some at different locations such as Casa da Música, Parque da Cidade, Massarelos, Castelo do Queijo, Casa de Serralves, etc.


HOP ON HOP OFF BUS TOUR DISCOUNTS

There are several different ways to save money on tickets for Porto hop on hop off bus tours.

This section will cover the best discounts including tourist passes and combo packages.


Tourist Attraction Discount Pass

There is currently only one tourist pass in this city – the Porto Card – and it actually includes the following discounts for all three of the hop-on hop-off bus tours in the city:

  • 25% off City Sightseeing Tickets
  • 25% off Yellow Bus Tour Tickets
  • 20% off Blue Bus Tour Tickets

In addition to these deals, the Porto Card also offers over 150 additional discounts of up to 50% off at popular attractions and on fun tours/activities.

This pass also covers admission to the following locations for free:

  • Arqueossítio
  • Casa Do Infante
  • Port Wine Museum
  • Museum Romântico
  • Do Papel-Moeda Museum
  • Gabinete De Numismática
  • Guerra Junqueiro Museum
  • António De Almeida Museum
  • Casa Oficina António Carneiro
  • Marta Ortigão Sampaio Museum

As if that weren’t enough, the Porto Card also provides unlimited access to all public transportation including the metro, buses, trams, and more.

Depending on how you use the pass, you could easily save up to 50% or more off general admission prices.

For more details, please read our post about Porto Tourist Attraction Discount Passes.

The Porto Card is currently only €13, so it's easy to start saving money with this service.


Combo Packages

If you’re not interested in picking up a tourist pass, there are also combo deals that include 2-3 activities for one flat price.

Two of the most popular Porto hop-on hop-off bus tours offer tickets with additional activities, allowing you to save money on all of them.

Most combo deals include a cruise on the Douro River and a visit to the Port Wine Cellars.

Yellow Bus Tours Combo Deals

  • Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour + Cruise + Wine Cellar
    • 2-Day/2-Route Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour
    • Guided Tour of Calém Wine Cellars
    • Douro River Cruise

Blue Bus Tours Combo Deals

  • Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour + Douro River Cruise
    • 2-Day Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour
    • Douro River Cruise
      • €24 ($24.60) Adults | €12 ($12.30) Children
  • Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour + Port Wine Cellars
    • 2-Day Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour
    • Port Wine Cellar Visit
      • €24 ($24.60) Adults | €12 ($12.30) Children
  • Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour + Cruise + Port Wine Cellars
    • 2-Day Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour
    • Port Wine Cellar Visit
    • Douro River Cruise
      • €30 ($30.75) Adults | €15 ($15.35) Children

Purchase tickets or learn more.


Additional Discounts

Yellow Bus Tours provides additional deals for their customers, allowing them to save money at some of the most popular attractions and restaurants in Porto.

Here are a few of the most notable discounts you may want to consider before purchasing tickets:

  • Sea Life Aquarium | 20% off
  • Serralves Museum Store | 10% off
  • Santo Inácio Zoo | 20% off
  • Casa do Infante | 50% off
  • Ginjal Restaurant | 10% off
  • Hard Rock Cafe | 10% off
  • FC Porto Museum | 10% off
  • Cockburn’s Port Wine Cellars | 10% off
  • El Corte Inglés | 2 for 1 pricing
  • And more!

Check this full list of discounts to see all of the deals provided to Yellow Bus Tour customers, and don’t forget you can save money on tickets for this service by using the Porto Card!


 RELEVANT POSTS

About The Author

Stephen Pickhardt

Stephen is the CEO of Free Tours by Foot and has overseen the transformation of a local walking tour company into a global tour community and traveler’s advice platform. He has personally led thousands of group tours in the US and Europe, and is an expert in trip planning and sightseeing, with a focus on budget travelers. Stephen has been published and featured in dozens of publications including The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Yahoo, Washington.org, and more.
Updated: February 24th, 2023
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